1. Field of Invention
Weight-lifters, body-builders, power-lifters, and some laborers, such as construction workers, wear specially designed gloves for protection from blisters. Wrist wraps are also worn by the same group of people to protect the wrist tendons from injury due to heavy or excessive weights and to strengthen then when doing work-outs with weights.
2. Description of Prior Art
Previous inventions in the following are cited for their limitations and problems in comparison to the present invetion:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,877 is a sports glove for racquet ball sports and not for weight-lifting, bodybuilding and powerlifting. The finger sleeves of the gloves are not exposed, like the way U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,495 invention is shown to have. The attached wrist support band of U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,877 is limited to its use by weight-lifters and others in that it is not long enough. Its difference to the present invention is that it is, also, not detachable. Its construction is mainly for racquet players. Though the wrist support band can be stretched when applying it on, it would not meet the requirements of the weight-lifters and others for the purpose of wrist protection, where stresses placed on the wrist tendons when lifting weights are greater in comparison to simply holding and using a racquet.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,877, as noted above, does not have a detachable wrist wrap or detachable `wrist support band.`
U.S. Pat. No. 4,408,358 is mainly a cold weather sports glove for fly fishing. Its main components are not for weight-lifting. Its purpose, therefore, are different due to its peculiar construction. The thumbs and index finger sleeve expose are mainly for dexterity in fly fishing. The rest of the finger sleeves are not exposed, as would be required for workout gloves for weightlifters and others. Furthermore, what appears to be a wrist wrap is not a wrist wrap but a feature that seals the hand from cold air and water. It would certainly not serve the purpose of protecting and strengthening the wrist tendons when weightlifting. Its use in weight-lifting would not be practical.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,495 is indeed a weight-lifter's glove. Its peculiar feature rests in the insert palm wedge. My invention would not have this inserted palm wedge. While it is similar in its exposed finger sleeves, it lacks the wrist wrap, whether attached or detachable. What appears to be a wrist wrap simply closes the glove but does not provide protection for the wrist and its tendons. It is rather too short to even give adequate wrist protection for heavy weight-lifting.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,770,270 is not obviously a weight-lifter's glove; not all the exposed finger sleeves are there for dexterity and better grip and control when handling heavy weights. What appears to be wrist support or wrist wrap by buttoning will not serve the requirements of weight-lifters. It is a closure and not a wrist-wrap for the purpose of wrist tendon protection. In fact, wearing such a glove in work-outs would cause wrist tendon injuries should heavy weights be lifted.
Thus, previous inventions fail to provide both a workout glove and the flexibility of either an attached or detachable wrist wraps.